Genia: Beale loss to spur on Wallabies
Wallaby hopes received a blow on the eve of their semifinal against the All Blacks with fullback Kurtley Beale ruled out with a hamstring injury.
The 22-year-old strained his left hamstring late in Australia’s quarterfinal against South Africa and has failed to recover to the satisfaction of coach Robbie Deans.
Wallaby captain James Horwill said Beale did everything in his power to prove his fitness, but simply ran out of time ahead of Sunday’s clash.
“Obviously it’s disappointing for Kurtley himself,” Horwill said. “He worked very hard to do everything that he could to get right but he felt it just wasn’t right.”
Scrumhalf Will Genia was immediately trying to find a positive in the injury blow by suggesting Beale’s omission would spur on his teammates.
“It makes everyone else have to step up as a group and as a team,” Genia said. “As a group we’ll have to work out how to cover the loss because he’s such a good player.”
The influential fullback was the first to break the news of his omission via his Twitter account on Saturday.
“Thanks every 1 for their support,” Beale tweeted. “Unfortunately been ruled out! Iv got faith in the boys who have got the opportunity tomorrow night.”
With Beale sidelined, Australia have implemented the contingency plan they outlined in their team announcement on Friday.
Adam Ashley-Cooper steps into full back, Anthony Faingaa takes his place at outside centre and Rob Horne moves onto the bench.
New Zealand assistant coach Wayne Smith said while the loss of Beale was no doubt a blow to their trans-Tasman rivals, the All Blacks anticipated an unchanged game plan from the Wallabies.
“I suspect that they will keep their patterns fairly similar,” he said.
“Not too much changes I don’t think, although he is an outstanding young player, so clearly he would be a loss for any team.”
RNS
